Moments: A Collection
by Zaira Fire
Summary: When he looks back on it all, those little moments were what really mattered. A collection of one-shots of Seto and Kisara.
1. Head Cold

**_Short and sweet :) Please review!_**

* * *

Seto clenched his eyes shut against the headache pounding against his skull. He slammed his front door and shed his suit coat, throwing it listlessly against the sofa. He tugged at the tie that had been suffocating him all day and undid the top button of his shirt for good measure.

If the headache didn't clue him in, then his running nose certainly did. He had a cold.

The light coming through the back window stung his eyes, but he braved it for the kitchen. There was some cold medicine in one of the cupboards. He'd put it there last time Mokuba had gotten sick.

He took one step into the kitchen and stopped cold.

His nose was so plugged up that he hadn't noticed that warm aroma of chicken noodle soup. He had been occupied, so he hadn't heard her soft humming or the clatter of pans. Despite his ignorance, there she was, standing at the stove with a wooden spoon. It was an ideal picture at best, except she couldn't cook.

She turned around and smiled, her blue hair swinging in the ponytail it hung in. She looked like she was about to say something but she stopped and took him in. Truly, it wasn't his best hour.

"I guess Mokuba was right," she concluded with a small smile. "I've never seen you sick before, Seto."

"And I'm sure I look awful," he thought about rolling his eyes at her, but it was too much effort.

"I wouldn't say awful," she mused. "In fact, I like this new look." She tugged at his limp tie, then turned to her soup and mumbled something under her breath.

It usually didn't take him this long to notice her blushing, but when he did realize, he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What was that, Kisara?"

She turned to face him again, her eyes shy, though her smile slightly wicked. She wrapped her arms around his neck, all while her cheeks took on a deeper shade. "I said that it's-" She bit her lip, then tried again. "That it's kind of sexy." Her eyes fell to the floor for a moment before meeting his again in slight defiance. "You're always so neat and proper; you aren't ever rumbled or unkempt."

He loved this side of her. When she was around others, her shyness got in the way of most interaction. She would smile and keep up with polite conversation, but she distanced herself from others before she let them in. It took him a while to realize that most of her shyness dropped away when they were alone. Most of it.

"You won't see it often," he said. "You better check to see that your soup isn't burning," he whispered in her ear.

The alarm on her face was priceless as she whirled out of his arms and snatched the wooden spoon up to stir whatever was in the pot. She shot him a well-earned glare. "It isn't burning!" She stirred it once, then, "Does soup burn?"

He groaned. "Yes, it does Kisara. Why are you cooking? I'd rather you didn't burn my house down."

She rolled her eyes, "It's from a can, so it isn't a big deal. I'm just heating it up! And anyways, Mokuba said you went to work sick so I wanted to make you something that would help. I think it's ready," she lifted the wooden spoon to her lips and took a sip, jerking it away in a split-second. "Yeah, it's ready!" She grabbed a bowl down from the cupboard- how did she know? She didn't come over that often- and set it on the countertop before pouring a good amount of the soup into the bowl.

Seto sat at the counter and took it, accepting a spoon from her small hand. "Thank you, Kisara."

She sat on the stool next to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Always, Seto."

He pulled away gently, "You're going to get sick if you come any closer."

She shrugged, "It was going to happen anyways."


	2. Sunset

_**I guess I should explain this a little bit. These one-shots are a bunch of answers to some what-if questions. What if Seto Kaiba had gone to college and met Kisara there? Here's the answer. Many of these are probably going to be very AU, just a heads up :) Please review and enjoy!**_

* * *

They had a world cultures class together.

That's how it started. They had partnered up during a brief discussion, and couldn't seem to pull away from each other.

"What class do you have next?" She asked with a smile on her face. Her eyes smiled, lighting up those cornflower blues.

"Programming," he said shortly.

"Ooh," she said, stretching it out a little bit. "I have Spanish right now. What building is your class in?"

"The tech building on the other side of campus," he said.

"Really?" He noticed her breath was coming out in short puffs. He was pulling ahead. He slowed down. "Me too! Don't ask me why Spanish is in the tech building, because I don't know the answer."

After that, they walked to class together.

She came to his duels when he remembered to tell her where they were.

He eventually waited for her outside of her classroom and they ate lunch together. Sometimes it was in his apartment, sometimes it was in hers. When it was sunny outside, she insisted on staying out.

She took a bite of her banana. "Seto?"

He was stretched out beside her, the jacket he'd worn that morning to stave off the cool, fall weather was in a heap next to his lunch box. "What?"

"Are you okay? You seem a little bit tired."

She had told him once that she preferred he'd take a minute to answer her question than for him to tell her a white lie, so he took a moment to make sure that he wasn't. "Not at all," he said.

She smiled. "Oh good!" She wrapped her banana peel in a plastic bag and set it down. "Then let's go on a date tonight." She took his hand. "My treat."

His eyes narrowed slightly. They were both pretty tight on money right now; she hadn't been able to find a job this semester, and he was working almost every night to make sure he kept up on his bills. His adopted father, to everyone's surprise but Seto's, hadn't given him a penny for school. Seto preferred it that way.

She caught his look. "We haven't gone out in a while, Seto. Please?"

"Kisara," he started.

"If you have homework tonight, then I understand," she sighed. "But I just want to go on a walk tonight, to see the leaves before they all fall off. I drove by a beautiful park today."

In the end, he could never refuse her.

She picked him up at six-thirty, just as the sun was settling down for the night. "Look at those clouds," she murmured, her eyes trained on the sky, while she was turning into the park's driveway.

He snapped his fingers to pull her attention away and back to the road. "Let's park, and then look," he reminded her. She grinned at him and did as she was told. When he opened her door, she took his hand and pulled him towards the park, fiddling with the camera on her phone.

"Look at that Seto!" Her giggle rose upwards into the quiet park and he looked at the sunset. It was as if the clouds were on fire. The tops were thick and gray while the undersides lit up from the reflection of the sun.

Kisara took several pictures, then threw her arm around his waist, holding her phone up so she could take a picture of both of them. "Smile!" She gave him only a second to lift the corners of his mouth before she snapped the picture. She ran ahead, waving for him to follow after her. He walked slowly, enjoying the bite of the season in the wind ruffling his hair. The park was peaceful, completely empty of persons. He could hear the chirping of a bird nearby, and the rustling leaves.

Kisara turned around, her whole body swinging with the movement, her hair silver in the twilight. "Can you believe it's fall already?" She called.

"It's October," he replied, raising his voice so she could hear him.

"I know," she said, and lifted her arms above her head, twirling. "It's just—wow!" Her eyes met his and his arms circled around her. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "You're warm," she murmured, her own arms securing themselves around his waist. "Thank you for letting me talk you into this."

"Thank you for talking me into this," he said back. He hadn't thought taking time off from his schoolwork would really help, but his shoulders were relaxed, his frustrated headache was gone, and he was smiling. Because of her.

She had an innate gift in making him happy.

"We'll go around the park once, then head back, okay?" He kissed her forehead before letting her go.

She held onto his hand, squeezing it gently. "Okay."


	3. Confrontations

_First of all, bless you DrummerDancer. You made me write again. It's been a few months since I've wanted to write any fanfiction and your review really motivated me to write this one-shot. It was thorough and kind and really, really sweet. I was a little worried about how people would take my interpretation of Kisara; we have so little of this beloved character in the series that everyone's is kind of different. Plus, I didn't want Kaiba to be OOC. You really gave me confidence :) I also like the idea of a college AU for them, there aren't many out there. I'm not sure I'll actually write a full college story AU, but I will post any one-shots I come up with here!_

 _This came out of nowhere. Really. And it was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE! Definitely the longest piece/chapter I've written for any of my fanfictions, and I've really enjoyed it. Please please please review! Love you all! -Zaira_

* * *

Seto knew from experience that Kisara didn't like confrontation. He knew because in her second semester at DSU, he'd gotten dozens of text from her, begging to call her and save her from some insane argument. _Say anything,_ she said.

He would call. And talk. Sometimes, it was about work, sometimes a duel. It didn't matter to her, not when she wasn't really listening. "Do you want a ride?" He would always ask.

"No." Was always her answer. "I need to blow off some steam."

When she did knock on his door, she was near tears, babbling about something that her roommate, or roommates, did wrong. "I just forgot to put my name on my milk and when I go to eat breakfast this morning, it's gone! I wrote all of them notes asking them nicely to fess up, but nobody did!" She rocked herself on his couch while he took the seat across from her. "Then Tiffany accused me of stealing her rice! That's when I texted you," she said. "I couldn't stand being there for one more second."

Seto didn't really understand. He was used to people yelling and complaining at him, throwing accusations. He had learned a long time ago to not let it get to him. But Kisara… she took every little insult to heart, analyzed every word, grounding out her every flaw until she was weak and exhausted. Since her new roommates had moved in, all three of hers had up and left the past semester, she had nothing but trouble to deal with. Her grades had suffered, and her body had especially suffered; she was thinner, something he'd been slowly realizing the past couple of weeks. She wasn't eating as much and that was starting to get on his nerves. He leaned forward, his hand resting on his chin as he carefully looked her over. Her back was tense and strained, her knuckles white as she tried to keep most of the waterfall of emotions inside of her.

Her holding back was his fault. They had learned early on in their friendship that he didn't take too kindly to bouts of extreme emotion. Anger he could deal with. When it came to tears, he distanced himself quickly. Giddiness, extreme joy, the same thing happened. He could tell from the unshed tears that she was trying to save face in front of him, but it was hurting her.

What would Mokuba do? They had talked about this. His little brother had been furious when he realized that he and Kisara weren't actually dating, but he had accepted it grudgingly. It really shouldn't have been a surprise. He wasn't looking for a romance that would complicate his already complicated life that included school and work. She wasn't looking for a corporate man. She needed someone more affectionate, someone who wasn't busy all of the time.

He hesitated for a moment longer before holding out his hand to her. "You can talk…" Sheesh, this was hard for him. "Cry if you need to. I just might not respond."

Surprise, no, it was shock, stretched her features. Her blue eyes widened, her mouth open in a nice round O before it closed and trembled. Her features crumbled as she took his hand and her head dipped to her chest. She sobbed quietly, giant teardrops falling onto her jeans. Her hand shook in his, clenching it with a strength he didn't realize she'd had. "I'm sorry," she gasped out. Her voice hitched, her eyes clenching. "I don't mean to make things awkward for you. I just—I mean… those girls are so _mean_. How can someone be so cruel? I don't understand how they can fling words at each other like that. Don't they understand that we're all human beings trying to get through this stage in our life?" She rattled on, her face red from the tears, her cheeks slightly swollen. "I thought that kind of drama would end in high school. I thought people would grow up. I thought…" She clenched her fist. "I hate that I can't stand up for myself when I'm in front of them! I don't- I don't want to sink to their level by flinging mean words! It drives me crazy that I can't even speak! I must look like a fish, my mouth flapping, gasping for breath. They know it's so easy to get under my skin." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I thought Tiffany and Jenn were friends, but even _they_ can't treat each other like regular human beings!"

His eyes narrowed as he watched her hand tighten around his, a smile tugging at his lips. He'd never seen this much emotion, this much _anger_ coming from her. He had never heard her talk so vehemently, so passionately about anything before. She was angry because people were cruel. She was hurt because she felt she wasn't good enough. It was so… so Kisara.

She looked up and he instantly wished he hadn't smiled. Her eyes were fire. "What—what are you smiling about? What's so funny?!" She snatched her hand away and crossed her arms against her chest. Her fire dimmed a little bit and he realized she was afraid. At her most angry, she was her most vulnerable. She was a paradox. She didn't make sense.

He bit back his smile. "Nothing's funny, Kisara. I just find it… enlightening what kind of emotions you hold inside." He reached over and took both of her hands. "You're not even truly mad at them."

Her eyebrows and mouth settled into a pout. "Did you hear my rant or not?"

"You are mad that they are fighting each other, that such cruel things could actually happen. You didn't say anything about being angry that they hurt _you_. You even turned on yourself, Kisara. You believe the words that they said to you, don't you?" It was more of a declarative statement than a question.

She shrunk back, her hands going slightly limp in his hands. "That's not true."

He leaned forward, his own dark fire flickering in his eyes. "Well maybe it's good for them that you aren't angry, because I _am_. I'm mad that they stole your milk. I'm _angry_ that they say trash about you and to you. I'm _fuming_ that they make you feel like you deserve what they're saying to you. I'm _furious_ that you have to live in such conditions." He kept his gaze on her, not letting her drop her eyes. "And I _hate_ that I find you in this condition more than should be healthy." He grimaced when he noticed her hollow cheeks, her thin waist. "You aren't eating like you should be, your grades are dropping. Mai told me that you fell asleep in your calculus class twice in two classes last week. I didn't think this was as serious as I thought she was making it out to be, but she did warn me." This time, he tightened his hold on her hands. "I saw the signs, I could have helped sooner."

"Oh Seto, you don't have to take care of me," she said quietly. "I'll get through it."

"I'm worried that you aren't going to be the same person when you do get through it," he said. "I'm your friend, Kisara," he could hardly believe he'd just said that. He'd known, but had he ever uttered it out loud? "It's my job to take care of you." He was suddenly grateful he hadn't taken Mokuba's advice and asked her out on a date. She didn't need a complicated romance on top of everything else she had to deal with.

Tears welled up in her eyes again, though these ones didn't fall. "Thank you, Seto."

He nodded shortly. "Now, next order of business." He stood up.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making you dinner."

* * *

They invited Mai over for dinner as well; Seto figured it would probably help to have her on board with the next step of mission 'taking care of Kisara.' Kisara had insisted that she wasn't very hungry, but he had insisted that she wasn't going to leave his apartment until she'd had a complete and healthy dinner. He was letting the healthy part slide when she asked for cornbread. He was going to make some chili with that but she stopped him. "My family always made it as a breakfast food; we would smother it with maple syrup."

"That sounds disgusting," he said instantly.

She laughed, "It sounds like home." So he took out the cornbread box mixes he'd tucked away in the back of his cupboard and got to work.

Mai had come in sometime after that. Seto didn't often appreciate her company, but Kisara seemed to light up when she came inside. "Hey hun!" She exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. She pulled away and studied her for a moment. "My, you have had a bad day." She smirked, "And now Kaiba's making you dinner. Nice move."

Seto frowned, "Stop teasing her like that, Valentine."

"Aww, you're no fun." She flicked blond waves over her shoulder. "I'm surprised you went to this party pooper before calling me, sweet cheeks. I'm hurt."

A concerned expression bloomed on Kisara's face. "I- I didn't mean- of course I should have thought-"

Seto full on glared at Mai. "If you make her cry again, I swear you will never be allowed on these premises again."

She rolled her eyes, "I didn't mean it sweetie, I was just teasing. It makes more sense to come here since he's closer." She swung herself onto the couch next to Kisara and draped an arm around her shoulder. Kisara snuggled closer, sucking up the affection she obviously needed.

Seto checked the stove where the syrup was boiling. He took it off the burner and went back into the living room. Kisara was explaining what had happened that afternoon. Mai listened quietly, occasionally agreeing or cursing under her breath. When Kisara finished, Mai sighed. "That's why I'm here, huh?" She glanced at Seto, her violet eyes slightly annoyed.

"What?" Kisara, as always, was a little clueless.

"I'm here to help toughen you up," Mai said. "You want to stand up for yourself? I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kaiba and I are probably the best people to teach you."

Seto gave a short laugh, "I'll tell Wheeler you said that."

"It will hurt your pride more than it will hurt him," she said flippantly. "Joey doesn't know _how_ to stand up for himself, he just _does_. He's useless."

Kisara raised her eyebrow at that. "Useless?"

"Just in that regard, mind you. Don't tell him I said that."

Dinner was out a few minutes later. Kisara ate everything given to her while Seto and Mai picked at their foods. "Too many calories," Mai muttered under her breath. Seto had never had a sweet tooth. While they were finishing up, Mai snapped her fingers. "The first thing you need to learn, Kisara, it how to win a fight."

Kisara gulped, her blue eyes wide again. "I can't- you know I can't fight, Mai," she said softly.

"I'm not teaching you hand-to-hand combat, silly. An argument, I suppose is a better word. The first thing I learned was that you have to remain completely calm. Steady. Don't give anything away." Mai sat up straight, showing off a confident, and otherwise expressionless face.

Kisara seemed to think about it for a minute, her eyes closed, imagining. She lived in her head, everything she said, saw, heard was kept up in there. "So I seem more in control."

"Exactly. You don't _seem_ more in control, you _are_ in control."

Seto stepped into the conversation, lifting and stacking their empty plates and going to the sink. "You want to know the moment you win or lose an argument?" He didn't wait for an answer. "The moment someone calls you a name is the moment you win the argument."

Mai laughed, agreeing, "At that point, they are in the petty pool; they aren't thinking clearly enough to realize how ridiculous they sound." She smirked. "The moment someone calls me a name is the moment I lose all respect for them. I don't owe them anything."

This time Seto smirked, "Exactly. At work, I'll give a person my full attention to their argument until they start name calling. After that, they don't get another word from me. My best employees recognize that."

Kisara nodded slowly, "It kind of makes sense…" She was thoughtful before deflating again. "But you're making all this 'winning arguments' sound easier than it really is."

"You don't call people mean names," Mai pointed out. "It will be a little easier than you think. You'll see."

She was discouraged, that was obvious by her downturned eyes and scrunched position. She was an open book, no wonder she was nervous, she wore her heart on her sleeve and her roommates used that to her advantage.

Mai looked at the time on her phone. She scowled. "I've got to go honey. I promised Joseph that I'd take him to the grocery store. Heaven knows I shouldn't since he hasn't gotten his act together and gotten a job but," she sighed, "that's love."

Seto didn't miss the dreamy smile playing on Kisara's lips, momentarily replacing her discouraged pout. "Have fun," she said.

"Do you want me to give you a ride back?" Mai asked.

Kisara instantly shrunk back into the couch. "Not right now, I need to replenish my energy. And my bravery."

"Good luck, Kisara," Mai said sympathetically. "Text me later, okay?"

"Okay."

She left with another "good night" and shut the door behind her.

"You aren't going to be able to avoid your apartment all night, you know," Seto pointed out automatically.

Kisara looked like she wanted to say "yes I can" but refrained. "I know," she said instead.

He never was very good at pep talks. That was always Téa's and Yugi's job. "Do you have any homework you need to do?"

"I don't have it with me."

"Well I need to finish some up, so if you want to hurry up and replenish your energy, I'll go with you to pick yours up."

She took a deep breath, then let it out. "Thank you," she said. "I think I'll be okay if it's only for a couple of minutes. Let me get my shoes on." He slipped his own on, grabbed his keys, and opened the door for her before following her out. They drove the couple of blocks to her apartment silently, parked, and walked up the stairs. She tried the knob; it was locked.

"No. No," she mumbled. "No no NO!" She dug through her purse, pulling things out and shoving things into his hands. "C'mon please please please…" Her voice broke, and then she gasped and pulled out a key. "YES!" She laughed, and unlocked the door. "Oh my word, I'm such a mess tonight, Seto."

He shrugged and followed her in, "It's been a long day."

She nodded and went to her room. He leaned against her doorjamb and watched as she shuffled papers together, put them into folders, and shoved them into her backpack. She was usually not so disorganized, but he could tell that she wanted to hurry. She was vibrating on borrowed energy, her hands shaking as she flipped through a textbook. "Will I need this?" She mumbled to herself, and set it back down before reaching for another one. "Econ, Calculus, English 1010," she grabbed another piece of paper. "Oh that's where that went." She shoved that into her backpack as well.

"Kisara?" A voice sounded behind them and Kisara flinched before whirling around.

"Yes, Wendy?"

"Oh, good your home! I just got back from the grocery store. I have your milk!" Seto turned around to see a slightly rumpled red-head, oval-framed glasses on her nose and socks and slippers on her feet. She was holding up a jug of white milk, as if presenting a gift.

A stunned Kisara came up next to him in the doorway. "You-you took my milk?"

"Yeah, I'm totally sorry about that. See, I had some friends over yesterday and I made them dinner. I ran out of milk and so I used some of yours, since it wasn't opened yet. I didn't realize they would drink the rest of it! Crazy, right? Anyways, I figured it wasn't a big deal. I saw your note and bought some more today! I'll put it in the fridge, okay?"

"Okay," Kisara said submissively, the volume of her voice making it clear that it really wasn't okay. Seto nudged her shoulder, sending her a sharp look. She looked down with panic in her eyes, before looking up with a little resolve. "Wendy, w-would you tell me next time you borrow from me please?"

Her roommate turned around with an unreadable expression, "What was that? Speak up, honey." Kisara repeated herself, a little louder this time. Wendy grimaced, "I would have, you were just gone, you know? I totally would have if you'd been here." There was no apology in her voice.

Kisara nodded, "I understand. It's not your fa—" she stopped herself. Seto had to stop himself from smiling proudly. It was absolutely the other girl's fault. "But if I'm not here next time, I'd rather you didn't borrow it, please? You need to ask."

Wendy's eyes narrowed. "No need to be so selfish, Kisara. I bought you some more."

"I appreciate that, but… it really worried me when I realized that my milk was gone this morning."

The other girl's composure was slowly slipping as she stood more on the defensive, despite Kisara's timid nature. "Did your creepy boyfriend tell you to say that? Stop being such a hypocrite, Kisara, we all know you're the one who stole Tiffany's rice."

A victorious gleam entered Kisara's eyes; a name had been thrown, her fire was back. "I'm sorry you think that, but I really didn't do it, Wendy. I don't know why she accused me, but it's just not true." Any tremor that had been in her voice was gone. Kisara slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Come on, Seto, we've got some homework to finish tonight."

He nodded and placed his hand on the small of her back, following her out and keeping an eye on her roommate. Wendy glared at him. The walk to the car was once again silent. Seto took his keys out and found the keyhole, unlocking his car. The moment Kisara shut the door, she laughed. "Did you hear that?"

"I did."

"That was me! Oh my word that felt so good!" She exclaimed with a happy giggle. "I-I stood up for myself! That was a lot easier than I was expecting… it was just Wendy, she's not as pushy as Tiffany or Jenn." She glanced at Seto. "I'm not sure I would have been able to do it without you there, though."

"You were fine tonight, you'll be fine next time."

She grinned, "That's the extent of your complimenting, isn't it?"

"Pretty much," he said with a smile.

"Well, it's good enough for me." She sat back in her seat, smiling to herself. "What homework are you finishing up tonight?"

"I need to edit an essay for my Writing for the Sciences class. That's about it."

"Oh good! I slipped my Uno deck into my backpack while you weren't looking. Want to play it after I get through the last few problems of my calculus homework?"

"We can't stay out too late, Kisara."

"It's a Friday night, Seto. No school, and you don't have to work."

"I do, actually. Meetings and some extra projects I need to work some bugs out."

"Uh-huh."

"Avoiding the problem isn't going to help anyone. I don't want you coming to my apartment in tears anymore."

"If I'd known it was a problem, I would have gone to Mai's," she said quietly, he could tell he'd hurt her, on accident, but he didn't say anything. "Fine. But you'll be by your phone tomorrow, right?"

He nodded, "Always am. Unfortunately."

"Good. I might need your support afterwards. I feel like the only reason I had a backbone tonight was because I talked to you and Mai. You two make me stronger."

Seto didn't speak for a moment, carefully deciding what to say. "I said I didn't _want_ you to come to my apartment in tears. That doesn't mean you _can't_."

"Thank you, Seto," she murmured.

* * *

After about an hour, the calculus and writing was put aside and the Uno cards were broken out. She explained that Uno was her game of choice, or rather, of comfort; her parents had given her a deck when she was twelve and she'd used it ever since. Kisara shuffled the slightly ratty cards expertly and placed them on the table, quickly dealing seven cards out. "Are we playing match?"

"Sure."

"How does four out of seven games sound to you?"

"Fine."

"You're awfully confident, aren't you."

Seto raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think that?"

"You're always very self-assured before a game. You have this tick where you always slightly raise your left eyebrow when you think you've got something in the bag. And your voice, it just bleeds confidence instead of your usual calm, monotone."

"I am not monotone," he retorted.

Kisara laughed and placed the first card. "Oh?"

"Why would you say I was monotone?" He demanded an answer, drawing a card, looking at it angrily and putting it in his hand.

"Oh… I don't know, maybe to distract you," she teased.

"You can't distract me," he scoffed. "This is a petty card game, pretty much mindless compared to the games I usually play."

"I know," she said.

"Then why…" he paused, placed a card in the discard pile. "Funny. You're trying to get a rise out of me."

"Is it working?"

He rolled his eyes. "I suppose it is working somewhat. Ironic how you can complain about someone getting a rise out of you and you go and push my buttons the next moment." He instantly wished he hadn't said it, for a wave of hurt washed over her. She set down her cards.

"I am a hypocrite, aren't I?" She said quietly.

He didn't answer, his mind racing to figure out how to fix what he'd said.

"I'll- I'll try to work on that. I was just teasing and… well, I know you can take it. I would never press the wrong buttons. If my roommates were doing silly things to annoy me, I would laugh it off, but they press the wrong buttons. I would never do that to someone I care about." She laughed harshly. "I wouldn't do it to anyone."

"Even if it's someone I care a lot about, I… push the wrong buttons sometimes," Seto confessed quietly.

Her expression softened. "That's the extent of your apologizing, huh?"

He smiled gently, "Pretty much."

"We all have our flaws," her smirk was back, that blue fire in her eyes burning.

* * *

She won six of the seven games they played. He insisted that he'd let her win half of them, meaning he really should have been the champion. He took her back to her apartment at around midnight. "They might be up still," Kisara worried. "Will you wait outside for a minute?" She tapped on the window a couple feet away from the door. "This is my window, I'll tap on it when you can leave, okay?"

He nodded, "Be quick. It's kind of cold out here."

"I don't want to hear any complaining from you," her mischievous eyes met his for a moment before she closed the door. He strained his ears against the outside silence, trying to hear if anything was going on outside. There was a rustle of cheap, plastic blinds, and then three knocks on the glass. Seto knocked back to let her know he was leaving.

He saw three texts from Kisara the next day when he left his main office meeting room and smiled. Until he read what they said.

 _They got in my room._

 _Tell me you're there._

 _Help me_

The time stamp read three hours ago.

"Oh no," he muttered under his breath. "Kisara," he repeated her name over and over again, getting angrier minute after minute. He swung his briefcase on his desk, pencils and papers flying when it hit with a loud _crash_ , and grabbed his car keys. He'd promised her that he would keep his phone on all day. She hadn't texted him all morning so he'd figured that one hour was okay. One hour turned into three. And now she was in trouble, or hurt. Stamping out his treacherous imaginings, he ran out the door and down the stairs in five minutes.

Mokuba was at his side and matched him pace for pace, "Where's the emergency?"

"Personal crisis, little brother," Seto gasped out. "I probably won't be back today."

"Where are you going?"

"Kisara's in trouble," was his only answer and he was out the front doors and into his car in less than a minute. The engine started up with a roar and he was off in less time than it took to blink.

He parked haphazardly in front of her apartment complex and ran up the stairs, two at a time. He came to the door, thought about knocking, but decided just to open it instead. It hit the wall with a _bang_ , making Wendy, who was sitting at the table, jump out of her seat, her chair hitting the ground with a clatter.

"Where is she?" He growled.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "In her room-"

Kisara's door was wide open. Books were scattered all over the floor, some wide open, binding broken. The bed was bare of its covers, closet open and clothes in a heap, shoes thrown everywhere. Her bureau drawers were hanging out, more clothes draped over the sides. Trash was scattered over everything else. It looked like a hurricane had come through; it was nowhere near the controlled chaos he had seen last night.

Kisara herself sat on the middle of the bed, her eyes open and staring at nothing. Her phone was in her lap. She had been crying, her cheeks stained with tears, her cheeks puffy. She didn't look up when he knelt in front of her.

"Kisara?" He whispered her name.

Her blue eyes flickered to his for a moment; a gulf of pain, hurt, and betrayal lay curled up inside.

"What happened?" He was a little sharper this time, hiding his own guilt.

She shook her head slightly. Still not a sound.

His anger started to fade and worry set in. "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head again. They hadn't hurt her physically, at least.

He stood up and before she could move away, lifted her up in his arms. She was shaking, her hand clenching the lapel of his suit jacket. He walked out, closing her door.

"You can't just take her!" Wendy stood in front of the door. "Isn't that kidnapping or something?"

"You broke her. If I had the time, and the patience, I would explain every little way you have emotionally abused Kisara, but I don't have the time, and I will never have the patience. If you don't move to the side, I will call the police for vandalism. That will be the first thing you will pay for," he said slowly, enunciating every word so she would understand just where she stood. "You are not a child anymore. You can, and you will, pay for your crimes. Make sure to tell your roommates." He approached her and Wendy stepped aside, shame and guilt clear on her face, in the tears swimming down her cheeks. He refused to say another word to her.

Three minutes later, he was carrying Kisara inside his apartment and setting her down on the couch. He picked up her phone and called Mai Valentine. "Has everything gone okay with your roommates?" Was the first thing Mai asked once she picked up the phone on the third ring.

"This is Kaiba. It went terribly. I can't get her to say anything. I need you over here. Now."

Mai hung up the phone and she was at his apartment in less than five minutes. She came in with her bag slung over her shoulder, no make-up on and a t-shirt with some obscure band reference on it. She dropped everything in her arms and threw them around Kisara, "Talk to me honey." She shooed Seto out of the room. He closed the door to his bedroom and paced the floor.

He couldn't focus on anything else but the way her eyes looked so empty, so hollow. Grief wasn't an emotion that hung off of Kisara like that. It didn't belong on her. It was his fault. If only he hadn't broken that stupid promise, he could have done something.

An hour and a half later, Mai knocked on his door. He was nearly ready to start pulling his hair out with worry. The moment Mai closed the door, he asked the question that had been buzzing around in his mind since he found her text. "What happened?" He nearly shouted.

Mai glared at him, her arms wrapped around her waist. "She went to the grocery store this morning. When she came back, she found that Tiffany and Jennifer had gone through her room, tearing through all of her stuff. She doesn't know why, they were probably looking for an excuse to tear her down. They didn't find anything. Kisara was able to stand up for herself just fine until her phone somehow ended up in Tiffany's hands. I guess she stole it out of her bag. They went through her conversations, some with me, some with you."

"So? What could they use against her?"

Mai almost looked ashamed. "Look, Kisara doesn't really want to get into that stuff-"

The door slowly opened, "You can tell him, Mai," Kisara said softly. She leaned against the wall and looked at her feet.

"Chin up, Kisara," Mai snapped. "Kaiba, the texts they found… were about you."

"And?"

Kisara lifted herself up. "Seto, they put two and two together and realized that I liked you… perhaps more than I was letting on. To you, anyways. Mai and I were just talking, being kind of ridiculous. She was playing matchmaker as usual… and I was falling for it. Then they found a conversation I had with you." She pushed her hair back from her face. "I tried to get my phone back from them, but the embarrassment had already set in… they said terrible things. I wasn't good enough, I wasn't smart or pretty… I didn't fall for those, they were calling me names, but then they said I was pathetic for listening to Mai, that you didn't look at me that way, that…" she trailed off. "Well you get the picture."

"Why would you listen to them?" He asked.

She flared up, angry for a moment, "Why? Because I can't help it! I hear everything and I just- I just forget! Forget that I'm supposed to defend myself! A lot of what they were saying was pretty believable: I am kind of pathetic, I don't deserve-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence!" He roared. "Don't you dare! They do not get to tell you what you do or don't deserve! You are not pathetic!" He realized he didn't really want her running off, so he checked his tone and shot his glare at the wall to his right. "They don't _know_ you, Kisara. Not like I do, not like Mai or Joey or Mokuba does."

Her small hands curled around his. "You big idiot," she mumbled. "I said it was 'pretty believable' not that I thought it was true. For a little while… maybe I believed it, but Mai already gave me the lecture." She looked up. "I still won the argument."

"What?" He almost didn't hear the last part.

"They reverted to name-calling, so there's my first win for the day. My second was that I didn't turn into one of them. They wanted so badly to make me as bad as they were, but it didn't work."

"They hurt you," Seto said softly.

Her hands tightened around his. "Yeah. They did. It hurt a lot."

"I wish I'd been there earlier. I shouldn't have turned off my phone."

"I forgive you. You would have been here if you could have. I love you for that."

He looked at sharply, "What do-"

She had a hard time looking him in the eyes, "I-I just needed to get that off my chest, too. Don't break my heart just yet," she murmured the last part and wound her arms around his waist.

He stood there, stunned, for a moment before wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I thought you deserved—you wanted—someone better. Someone more-"

She pulled back and the fire, that blue fire that he marveled at, was back in her eyes. "You _do not_ get to decide who I deserve, and definitely _not_ who I want!" She softened. "You're as bad me sometimes."

He shook his head, "Maybe. Maybe not."

"That's all the submission you're willing to give?" She smiled. "Against my better judgement?"

He leaned forward his own smile playing on his lips, "That was evasion, Kisara. You will never see me submit."

"You almost did," she pointed out cheekily. "To a man who will never hold my heart."

"Then I suppose I will take your heart. And a kiss, for good measure," he lifted her chin and kissed her.

 _FLASH_

They jumped apart and Mai laughed, holding up an old digital camera. "Mokuba's going to kill me, but the fifty bucks is totally worth it!"

* * *

 _Heheheh. Writing Mai is just too much fun! Also, this was going to be a fighting fic between Kisara and Seto... but it didn't end up happening. I like this a lot better. I might still do one later, but oh well! I hope you like it! Please review! I would love any constructive criticism you can give me!_

 _-Zaira Fire_


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